Looking to get into Autocross..

[kaluwa]

Where can I find information on local events? Usually, how often are their autocross events in the Tampa area?

I've never participated in an event, but upon researching it lately I would really like to get out and give it a try.

Thanks.

[jlude90]

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/au...-schedule.html

stickies in the top of the forum man

just make sure you have a safe car, and if a helmet is required(if no loaners are available) have one of those

otherwise go out there, screw up, and have fun

talk to as many people as you can

[Loren]

With the notable exception of the month of August, which a lot of clubs take off because it's too damned hot, you can find an autocross within 2 hours of Tampa at least two weekends out of any month. (usually more) There's at least one autocross per month within an hour of Tampa.

Like the man said, read the stickies. There you'll find a very comprehensive schedule with links to all of the local clubs, along with a lot of other usefule information.

Best thing you can do: Get to an event, let 'em know you're new, and accept their offers to assist. Have fun!

PS: There are >>>TWO<<< slots left for the FAST novice school in January. You should snag one of 'em. That'll get you started.

Look for the thread about the school, it's here somewhere.

[kaluwa]

Just spent a good amount of time reading the stickies.. Don't know why I didn't do that before making a thread, but whatever.

The SCCA solo2 events looks like they would work out for me. There is a practice and an event (both in one weekend) almost every month. Brooksville is only about 30 minutes away from my house too. Have you guys been to this event? How is it?

Also I noticed that it says I need an SCCA membership card. Where can I sign up for one, and what is the charge to become a member? Oh and another important question.. I'm 17, will I be allowed to participate with a waiver signed by my parents, or do you have to be 18 with no exceptions?

Thanks.

[Loren]

Local SCCA autocrosses are just fine. All of the clubs around here are pretty good. You don't have to be an SCCA member to attend, you just get a discounted entry fee if you are one.

Any of the local clubs will allow you to compete at 17 (all but SCCA require that you have a valid driver's license, but I assume that you do anyway), but you will be required to have a parent sign a minor waiver. If you can't bring a parent with you, you'll need to consult with the club you're running with to see if they can mail you a copy of the waiver. (personally, I don't like doing that if I haven't met the parents... too easy for kids to forge it and compete without their parents knowledge)

[pullg]

Originally Posted by Loren

Local SCCA autocrosses are just fine. All of the clubs around here are pretty good. You don't have to be an SCCA member to attend, you just get a discounted entry fee if you are one.

Actually, starting this year you do...National office imposed new sanctioning rules. They also set up a mechanism for temporary/introductory memberships...how Central FL Region is implementing that, I don't know. (Jeremy...any idea?) Sign up for the CFR e-mail group at cfrsolo2@yahoogroups.com and one of the event organizers will be able to answer that.

They're good events -- numbers have been small this year, so lots of runs, and the courses are generally interesting.

[Loren]

I know this wasn't a local decision... but it sure doesn't seem like a good move for the local SCCA. I know I'm not paying for an SCCA membership just to go to maybe 2-3 events in a year.

[treekiller]

It's a matter of time before SCCA becomes a Road-Racing only org. They killed off their successful Rally program, They are killing off their autocross program. It's a stogy group of gentleman racers, with enough classes so everyone gets a "participation" trophy. Go to a FAST autocross, the private clubs are where it's at for the beginner. If it was not for BMW and Porsche clubs when I first started I would have never continued. THE SCCA did not want us "kids" at the time, I fought through it, but in retrospect I would have killed to have a private club back then where we got 6 runs and free lunch!

[Native]

kaluwa - the FAST school is full. If you happened to have signed up, be sure to bring a parent along to sign the necessary waivers. As Loren said above, we gotta be sure it's all legit.

If you didn't, drag the folks out to sign you up for a regular event. Plenty of qualified folks available who will be more than happy to show you the ropes.

[treekiller]

Native: somewhere i have a PDF of the minor waver if you need to send it out.

[pullg]

Originally Posted by Loren

I know this wasn't a local decision... but it sure doesn't seem like a good move for the local SCCA. I know I'm not paying for an SCCA membership just to go to maybe 2-3 events in a year.

Depending on the region, it'll be largely transparent to competitors. The region has to cough up something like $15 for each non-member to cover the cost -- how much, if any, of that they pass on to the competitors is up to the region (I don't know what CFR is planning). The region sends the list of names off to the National office, who then spams the newbies mailbox with recruiting material...and I think they can apply the "temporary membership" cost towards a regular membership, whether they actually had to pay out or the region absorbed it. IMO, it's another one of those bad recruiting ideas that'll either go away or cause regional autocross programs -- many of whom began as independent clubs and linked with the SCCA for the favorable insurance coverage -- to break loose from the club. The autocross programs in many regions gets little, if anything from the rest of the region, and in some of the smaller ones, it's the bulk of the participants.

On the other hand, that's what they get for hiring an auto industry exec to run the club...is there a U.S. industry that's suffering more because it's lost sight of its purpose?

[Native]

Native: somewhere i have a PDF of the minor waver if you need to send it out.

Thanks. Got it covered. But I'm with Loren - we'll need to play "meet the parents" with any first-timer minor. I know of once before we didn't, and while no harm was done, after further discussion and thought we won't any more.

[Jordan Y.]

Originally Posted by treekiller

It's a matter of time before SCCA becomes a Road-Racing only org. They killed off their successful Rally program, They are killing off their autocross program. It's a stogy group of gentleman racers, with enough classes so everyone gets a "participation" trophy. Go to a FAST autocross, the private clubs are where it's at for the beginner. If it was not for BMW and Porsche clubs when I first started I would have never continued. THE SCCA did not want us "kids" at the time, I fought through it, but in retrospect I would have killed to have a private club back then where we got 6 runs and free lunch!

I went to an SCCA club racing day at Sebring once just to see what it was like. There were two other kids my age who were there with their fathers racing, then the rest of them were 40, 50, and 60 years old. 75 percent of the cars running were 30 year old RX-7s and VWs and even older Formula Fords and the like, the same cars these same guys have been running for the last 20+ years. There was some younger blood in Spec Miata and one unlimited class that had a mish-mash of crazy, random cars running, but the average age was over 40 and it didn't seem they were drawing young blood in.

In autocross, HPDE, whatever, SCCA has crazy and complicated rules and classes and you pretty much have to build your car from the ground up to fit into a class because pretty much any street tuner car somebody would build today is going to have that one chassis brace or engine part or suspension part that is outlawed and puts you in XP. "Oh, you have a triangulated strut tower brace, go race against tube frame aero cars". "Turbo? AWD? No road race for you!" Whereas NASA, FAST, etc, tend to be much more open. Just the impression I get, and the impression I'm sure a lot of other youngsters get when they start looking in to the sport and are put off by the three jillion pages of SCCA classing rules. My old DSM would have been in some insane class where it would have been tens of seconds slower than the pace even with a pro driver at pretty much any SCCA event and it was just a run-of-the-mill average mods turbo DSM.

[jaball77]

Originally Posted by treekiller

They are killing off their autocross program. It's a stogy group of gentleman racers, with enough classes so everyone gets a "participation" trophy.

Please ignore Jeff. Apparently he's not taking his medication...

The truth is that the SCCA is just as friendly for beginners and have just as much fun as any other club. We have novice walkthroughs of the course at every event and dedicated novice instructors as well.

I've been trying to attend both FAST and SCCA events when I can... Seat time is always nice!

[pullg]

Originally Posted by Jordan Y.

In autocross, HPDE, whatever, SCCA has crazy and complicated rules and classes and you pretty much have to build your car from the ground up to fit into a class because pretty much any street tuner car somebody would build today is going to have that one chassis brace or engine part or suspension part that is outlawed and puts you in XP. "Oh, you have a triangulated strut tower brace, go race against tube frame aero cars". "Turbo? AWD? No road race for you!" Whereas NASA, FAST, etc, tend to be much more open. Just the impression I get, and the impression I'm sure a lot of other youngsters get when they start looking in to the sport and are put off by the three jillion pages of SCCA classing rules. My old DSM would have been in some insane class where it would have been tens of seconds slower than the pace even with a pro driver at pretty much any SCCA event and it was just a run-of-the-mill average mods turbo DSM.

In their defense, the SCCA is the only amateur racing organization out there with nationally-consistent rules covering almost anything you care to race from the last 50 years at any level from local to national competition (although the road-racers are admittedly cool towards turbos, believing difficult-to-police boost mods will make them class killers). That's an extremely tall order! The closest NASA, and obviously the marque clubs, have come is with marque-specific (or close to it, as with American Iron) classes where the performance differences are far smaller.

The SCCA autocross rules are explicitly designed for national competition, and in fact, the rulebook allows local regions to modify or ignore any of them other than the safety rules. NASA doesn't have a common set of autocross rules, and even the TT rules are not used universally or without modification. In fact, not that many NASA regions run autocrosses, and two attempts to hold NASA-X national championship failed. The FAST ruleset was deliberately designed to be simple, and it works great for the local group of drivers here, where variations in driver skill often even out modifications or differences between cars. It surely wouldn't work for national-level competition...it might not even work away from Tampa!

Having helped with the design proposals for the Street Touring (at least what became STS) and Street Modified categories (both were member-initiated proposals), I can tell you there is no such thing as a "typical" street tuner car...we looked hard! And serious competitiors -- remember the rules are designed to cover national competition -- will exploit everything in the rules. I'm surprised you couldn't find a home for the DSM in Street Mod, though...the category was pretty much invented to make a home for modified turbo cars, and the guy who was the key proponent drove a modified DSM.